MINOT, NORTH DAKOTA · ONE WALL · TWENTY PANELS
THE MAKING OF A MURAL
Last summer, one concrete wall became twenty handmade chapters—part local history, part inside joke, and entirely our own.
Start the story
ON THE WALL
BEFORE / SUMMER 2025
00 / BEFORE THE COLOR
The first design was the seven-layer puzzle. I thought that was the whole job: one twelve-by-seven-foot section.
Then I found out there were twenty. Once that happened, it became a creative free-for-all—in the best possible way. Kelsie helped design, build and bring the wall to life. Travis put in a lot of work. Puppers made it into a hidden portrait. Friends, teams and local stories kept finding their way onto the concrete.
“We were able to portray how quirky, creative and unique we really are.”
01PANEL 01 / THE STORY INSIDE
The women’s door is blue. The men’s door is pink—and shorter. After somebody finally sorts out which door is which, they open it and find a concrete wall. The joke belongs to the locals first. Everybody else gets to discover it the funny way.
LOCAL SECRET: BOTH DOORS OPEN. NEITHER ONE GOES ANYWHERE.
LOCAL SECRET: BOTH DOORS OPEN. NEITHER ONE GOES ANYWHERE.
02PANEL 02 / THE STORY INSIDE
An actual half-baseball becomes the “O”—the first clue that the field itself would supply the materials and language.
03PANEL 03 / THE STORY INSIDE
The rainbow was panel three, but it was the first section we completed. Its axes divide the shape unevenly, so every direction changes the proportions. It reads like a rainbow, an optical illusion and a three-dimensional object all at once.
04PANEL 04 / THE STORY INSIDE
Cedar planks spell the city’s name, blended into the grain by day and made easier to find after dark with glow-in-the-dark paint and a UV light.
05PANEL 05 / THE STORY INSIDE
Fractal burns run through softly painted planks, then fill with deep luminescent purple epoxy. The piece bridges the Minot and North Dakota sections.
06PANEL 06 / THE STORY INSIDE
Like the Minot panel beside it, cedar planks spell out North Dakota in the grain of the wood, with painted details that become easier to discover as the light changes.
07PANEL 07 / THE STORY INSIDE
A geometric optical illusion created with Kelsie, inspired by Gus and a much-loved pair of pajama pants—a personal story hiding in plain sight.
08PANEL 08 / THE STORY INSIDE
A familiar arcade idea gets rebuilt in the mural’s handmade language. It is one of those sections that clicks the moment you see the whole wall.
09PANEL 09 / THE STORY INSIDE
Short wooden pieces and painted shadows look like an interwoven lattice. A real softball appears to blast through the center.
10PANEL 10 / THE STORY INSIDE
Dr. Victor A. Corbett’s story is written in Morse code using baseball bats and balls. The wall makes you work a little before it gives up the answer.
7 LAYERS · 3 WALL SECTIONS · 1 VERY REAL PUZZLE
11PANEL 11 / THE STORY INSIDE
I designed this before I knew the job would become twenty panels. Seven layers had to be cut, burned, painted, filled with epoxy and lined back up. Then the finished piece went onto the wall in three sections that puzzle together. It is a metaphorical, physical and very literal puzzle—and still my favorite piece.
7 LAYERS · 3 WALL SECTIONS · 1 VERY REAL PUZZLE
12PANEL 12 / THE STORY INSIDE
Our signature board turns our names into a hangman-style color puzzle. Its QR code brings visitors here—the wall and website completing each other.
13PANEL 13 / THE STORY INSIDE
Kelsie’s Native heritage helped guide a tribute intended to honor Native communities in and around North Dakota.
14PANEL 14 / THE STORY INSIDE
A hole at the bottom of the wall gave me one thought: squirrel entrance to the games. That became Acorn Acres—real branches bolted to concrete, tiny houses and stores, solar lights, advertisements and a whole miniature city. The gibbon is Cassie from the Roosevelt Park Zoo across the road, who hollered whenever our power tools started.
15PANEL 15 / THE STORY INSIDE
Color, fractal burns and geometric puzzle forms keep the rhythm moving between the wall’s bigger narrative scenes.
16PANEL 16 / THE STORY INSIDE
The sponsorship panel recognizes the Magic City Lions Club—the “Club” is important—as part of the community behind the project.
17PANEL 17 / THE STORY INSIDE
Removable wooden team logos fill two panels. From the grandstand, look behind “Corbett” for cartoon versions of us, Travis and Puppers peeking over the wall.
18PANEL 18 / THE STORY INSIDE
Together, the two cohorts panels recognize teams and organizations connected to the field while hiding portraits and small details for visitors who look closely.
19PANEL 19 / THE STORY INSIDE
Oscar the Grouch gives a quiet spotlight to a major helper who preferred to stay anonymous. Other details reward anyone willing to linger.
20PANEL 20 / THE STORY INSIDE
Merkabas, abstract forms and CNC-routed designs let the project run wild, with glow-in-the-dark epoxy tucked into intricate carved lines.
THE WALL HAS A PAST
Corbett Field began as Minot Municipal Ballpark, built from 1935 to 1937 through the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and designed by Minot architect Ira Rush.
It was later named for Dr. Victor A. Corbett, a local dentist and president of the Park Board when the grandstand roof and field lights were added in 1947. Satchel Paige pitched here. Generations of amateur, school, college and professional players have followed.
History: Minot State Athletics · Minot Park District
LOOK CLOSER
FRESH FROM THE WALL · JULY 2026
These newer photographs bring the small clues, handmade surfaces and full-scale panels closer—plus Michael, Kelsie and Puppers standing with the work.
BUILD WHAT COMES NEXT
Luckey Bear Creations LLC is planning the next large-scale community artwork. The preliminary project goal is $50,000, with every milestone moving the work from an idea toward a finished public installation.
CONTRIBUTIONS OPENING SOON · PAYMENT LINK NOT YET ACTIVE
Contributors may be recognized by name or business—with permission—or remain anonymous.
Preliminary project estimates may change as the site and design are finalized. Payments will support a project of Luckey Bear Creations LLC, are not charitable donations and are not tax-deductible.
KEEP THE STORY MOVING
A quiet, local-first place for businesses, events and neighbors who want to support the mural story without turning it into an ad wall.
CORBETT COMMUNITY BOARD
No popups. No autoplay. No flashing ads. No behavioral tracking. Just a respectful community board.
FOUNDING SUPPORTER
COMMUNITY PARTNER
FOUNDING SPONSOR
COMMUNITY NOTICE
READY TO PUT YOUR NAME BESIDE A MINOT STORY?
We will confirm availability, artwork and timing before anything goes live.THE FINAL PANEL
The last section gathers the things that helped shape the city—railroads, oil, wheat, flowers and discoveries made while learning Minot’s story. It closes the wall by looking back at the place that gave it a home.
IMAGINED, BUILT AND BROUGHT TO LIFE BY